Can Grass-Roots Volunteerism Defeat Marcos 2.0?
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The Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan rally in Cebu last February, 2022 (Source: Manila Bulletin)
Artists like Robert Alejandro offer their talents pro bono to help the Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan campaign.
In a country where guns, goons, and gold—meaning political violence and vote buying—are seen as the usual route to victory, the proliferation of roses and rock songs in social media and campaign rallies is unusual. Ordinary citizens donating funds and popular celebrities giving their services for free are also unprecedented, as millions of voters have created a groundswell of support for Vice President Leni Robredo after she filed her candidacy for president last October. Since then, she has inspired a pink wave that has been sweeping the archipelago of 7,100 islands and has grown bigger since February 8, the official start of the campaign period.
It would be easy to dismiss Robredo supporters as a minority, and their social media feeds as echo chambers that do not reflect the reality on the ground. After all, her main rival, the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has been leading in the surveys for months. Marcos has cleverly roped in the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose approval ratings remain high despite the numerous killings and corruption scandals during his administration, as his running mate to further boost his popularity. With much of their ill-gotten wealth yet to be returned to the country, the Marcos family has vast resources to attract gullible voters. How can Robredo, who has only been in politics for nine years, defeat the political machinery of the Marcoses?
In an interview with movie star Sharon Cuneta, who also happens to be the wife of Robredo’s running mate, Kiko Pangilinan, Robredo acknowledges her underdog status but is quick to add that her opponents have often underestimated her, to their disadvantage. In 2016, she climbed from an awareness rating of one percent to victory against the more popular Marcos Junior, proving that a slow but sure approach can work in a plurality contest. “The power of the long game” is how she puts it, and Robredo could once again prove her doubters wrong.
Despite getting vilified by President Duterte for almost six years now, Robredo has kept her cool and worked steadily in responding to crisis after crisis. During the pandemic, an outpouring of donations from the private sector has stretched the meager budget of her office and allowed her team to provide a wide array of services, from transportation to dorms to Covid kits for front-line workers and patients. Whenever there’s a disaster, a recurring theme in a country that gets an average of 20 tropical storms a year, Robredo is quick to offer support, most recently in the aftermath of Typhoon Rai last December that destroyed more houses and infrastructure than Haiyan in 2013.
In the ups and downs of Philippine politics, a Robredo victory would be another chance to bring back the democratic ideals we seemed to have regained after the 1986 People Power revolution that toppled Marcos. President Cory Aquino restored press freedom and our government institutions even as she had to fend off attacks from coup plotters, while President Fidel Ramos steered the economy back to a respectable status during the dotcom boom of the 1990s. We seemed to be on the right track, but then we got derailed when President Joseph Estrada was elected in 1998 and had to be thrown out through People Power 2 due to massive corruption and gross incompetence. Nine years under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was dogged by election fraud and pork barrel scandals, debilitated the country further.
We seemed to emerge into the light again with a robust economy under President Benigno Aquino III, but it quickly became apparent that the benefits of growth did not reach a large segment of the population. Public disenchantment and an astute political campaign led to the victory of Duterte and his ensuing record of drug-war killings, as well as media and political repression that have dampened investor confidence in the country.
“Vice President Leni Robredo has inspired a pink wave that has been sweeping the archipelago of 7,100 islands and has grown bigger since February 8, the official start of the campaign period.”
Robredo is seeking to correct the socioeconomic imbalance of the past, with her constant refrain of lifting those on the margins of society (“laylayan ng lipunan”) so that everyone could have a better life (Angat Buhay Lahat). Her choice of Senator Pangilinan, a former student activist who has ventured into farming, as vice presidential candidate conveys a clear message that agriculture is vital in ensuring that all Filipinos can have three meals a day.
Last year, food became a huge issue for millions of Filipinos reeling from the strict lockdowns and loss of jobs. It did not occur to millennial Ana Patricia Non that a simple cart with some rice and canned goods -- and a sign that read “kumuha nang ayon sa pangangailangan, magbigay nang ayon sa makakaya (get what you need, give what you can)” -- would set off a chain of self-help groups that prevented starvation in many neighborhoods. People who may hardly know the meaning of community pantry, or have probably never heard of socialism, heeded the call to give according to their abilities and take only what they needed: taho (soy bean curd in syrup) in exchange for rice and eggs, or home-grown vegetables for canned goods. The spirit of sharing is also driving the largely volunteer-led campaign that wants Robredo to become the next president, a surprising departure from crowds waiting for handouts from politicians in previous elections.
When food became a big issue for Filipinos during the pandemic, Ana Patricia Non stepped up with her Maginhawa Community Pantry, which offered donated food to the less fortunate (Source: Yahoo)
Many voters are looking at the May 9 elections as the archetypal battle between good and evil: corrupt politicians and crony businesses who want to retain power for their selfish ends versus upright citizens and honest entrepreneurs who are tired of bad actors and are longing for positive social change. Almost all of those who have brought shame to the Philippines, and brought out the worst in the Filipino, are aligned with Marcos. Most of the people who paid tribute to the matuwid na daan (straight path) legacy of former President Benigno Aquino III, who passed away last year, are rallying around Robredo.
In her speech announcing her candidacy, Robredo preached the message of “radical love” to bridge the polarization in Philippine society. Although she has condemned the abuses of the Marcoses and professed her admiration for the reforms and sacrifices of the Aquinos, she has sought to create a distinct image as a widow pursuing the path of transformational leadership of her husband, Jesse Robredo, who was killed in a plane crash in 2012. She told an interviewer, “The best way to honor him is to continue the work that he left unfinished.”
During the campaign, she reminds the public that she is a public servant in her own right, having been a social activist engaged in community work long before she entered politics. The choice of pink as her campaign color has also distanced her from the yellow associated with Aquino supporters, projecting her as an independent candidate who will pursue a different path.
Leni’s youngest daughter Jillian put it best in an interview with another Gen Z voter when she said, “My mother is the type of person who is very sure of herself.” This is how Leni manages to remain unfazed despite the odds stacked against her. During her first campaign rally in her hometown of Naga City, she exhorted her supporters, “Ipanalo natin ito.” Let’s win this political battle, she tells them, despite her poor showing in the surveys so far.
It’s been said that Filipinos need an authoritarian leader because many are often unruly and prone to scams, refusing to follow rules and constantly trying to put one over another person. This is how Marcos justified his strongman rule, and how Duterte imposes his will on citizens.
But then again, as Leni’s campaign volunteers have shown, Filipinos are also some of the most creative and resourceful people on the planet; so maybe there’s another way of instilling discipline among Filipinos. In media interviews, Leni’s children often tease her for being a tiger mom while they were growing up, pushing them to excel in their studies and sports and music. Robredo has admitted that she is a demanding boss and has always pushed her staff, “Gagawin lang din naman natin, gawin na natin nang maayos (If there’s something we need to do, we might as well do it well).”
For those holding out hope for the Philippines, perhaps, Leni is the tiger mom the country needs – a leader who could bring out the best in every Filipino.
The author is currently a graduate student in Creative Publishing & Critical Journalism at The New School for Social Research in New York City.
